The 'Japanese Prince Fielder' Who Hit 140 Home Runs In High School Is Going To Play College Baseball In The U.S. Instead Of Being The No. 1 Pick In The NPB Draft
Baseball America — Rintaro Sasaki will forgo the Nippon Professional Baseball Draft and attend college in the United States according to numerous reports out of Japan, confirming weeks of speculation the 17-year-old Japanese slugger would head stateside.
A 6-foot, 250-pound behemoth, Sasaki dominated at the high school level in Japan as he slashed an eye-popping .413/.514/.808. Sasaki also hit a Japanese high school record 140 home runs and was thought to be in the mix to be selected first overall in the upcoming NPB Draft. He attends Hanamaki-Higashi High School and plays for his father, Hiroshi Sasaki.
Oh hell yeah. Rintaro Sasaki was going to be the No. 1 pick in the NPB Draft but is coming to the United States to smash dingers in college baseball, instead. This is going to be awesome.
I'm extremely disheartened to learn, however, that Sasaki is reportedly leaning towards playing at Vanderbilt, a baseball program that is no longer even the best in the state of Tennessee. I want to love this kid so badly. He's 6'0, 250 pounds and just launches baseballs with a swing that looks like Bryce Harper's. Please, Rintaro, go play literally anywhere else. I don't want to hate you, but I'll do what I must.
Regardless of where Sasaki ends up, I have a feeling this will not be the last blog written about him on barstoolsports dot com. This kid is going to take college baseball by storm.
